Rainy days in Paris
by MiraculousMarinetta
Summary: This is my contribution to Adrinette April 2019! A fluffy and cute fic on how the adrinette relationship grows along time with a tiny twist at the end. Are you prepared? Also posted in Ao3!
1. Day 1: Just a Friend

_**Just a friend: "Marinette is just a friend!"**_

"I'm just a friend Tikki." Marinette sighed, rolling in her chaise. The red kwami nuzzled her cheek, no words of comfort coming off her small mouth after months of repeating and excuses. Today felt like the bluenette reached a dead end. Slowly but admiringly she took the posters down; her favorite blond looked at her with a model smile as she put him away in a small box.

Two years had passed since she met Adrien Agreste. She had been more than obvious about her crush both intentionally and unintentionally. Alya, and then Nino, sighed repeatedly at her attempts and at the blonde's obliviousness. Now starting her last year Marinette felt like dropping the towel. It was emotionally exhausting, not only did she felt friend-zoned like a boss, she was dead guilty every time she rejected Chat (as Ladybug) in hope of ever having her feeling returned by Adrien.

She changed her hairstyle multiple times, but it was finally the time to let it loose. It was pretty long now, her pigtails as Ladybug were sometimes wild and distracting but as Marinette, sometimes it was a real nightmare. Her style was still hers, she didn't change much, pink was still her favorite color, so no surprise there. She got out, climbed to her balcony, and breathed the chilly night breeze. Something inside her felt relieved, but she was not sure what it was.

Not far away from Marinette's house, a blonde boy was exited and overflowing positive energy, something Plagg dreaded so late at night. "Listen here kid, calm the hell down before I puke camembert in all your wardrobe" Adrien rolled his eyes and after tucking his pajamas on, he plopped in his bed. He grabbed his phone and opened a notification:

#This happened a year ago# When he pressed on it, a shower of pictures flowed down the screen. He smiled unconsciously, looking at his memories from last summer. He went to a theme park with Alya, Nino and Marinette. He had several pictures and videos, he even was enchanted, as he remembered, with how Marinette was all scared at first until she got in the first rollercoaster. Plagg was curious on whatever he was seeing, as the blonde's grin became bigger and bigger.

The kwami was unamused when he found the bluenette's face flushed and exited about every ride, and felt extremely irritated when she made a pun (a really good one actually) and Adrien smiled wider and chuckled!

"You got that stupid grin in your face." Plagg commented looking at the video drawn by the bluenette who made an important glow up during the show months, not that she wasn't cute before, but according to Plagg Marinette became hotter.

"Which stupid grin?" He asked, feeling his cheeks a little stiff.

"The one you have when you think of Ladybug. Seems like Marinette causes the same effect on you as your Lady" in a unison the little god's mind screamed "cause they are the sAME GIRL!"

"What are you talking about Plagg? Marinette's just a friend." He smiled cheekily. He continued to feel nostalgic and slid the memoirs with great fondness. He couldn't wait to start his last year tomorrow.


	2. Day 2: Seat buddies

_**Seat Buddies: TGV Trip! **_

_(TGV: High speed train, train de grande vitesse)_

"Isn't it way to early for a trip?" Marinette asked to Alya besides her after the lesson finished. She wasn't complaining, but just a month after school started was really odd. Alya shrugged at her.

"You aren't exited Marinette?" Adrien asked at her. She looked at him, and for some reason she didn't stutter or turned as red as a tomato.

"I am, but it's strange." She replied, and felt like she repeated herself. Nino looked at Alya surprised, something Marinette noticed.

"Well, don't worry, is a short trip. We'll be back soon enough." The blonde sunshine smiled assuring her. Alya talked with the bluenette exited about the trip; the future reporter had a great idea: "_Marinette you should bring some pastries to the train, I'm sure they would be welcomed by everyone, specially me! Your seat buddy!"_

Mari rolled her eyes but would make sure to bring something for the trip, she was a better traveler with a full stomach. Her parents were so exited about her trip to London, and where super supportive and willing to give their daughter much more money than she needed to survive a week comfortably.

With a pink travel mug full of tea she sat in her seat next to Alya, who looked grumpy. The bluenette was immerse in the 6 am landscape, drifting slowly to an attentive sleep. She heard shifting at her side, grumbling she opened her eyes and found Adrien by her side. She almost sat up with a jump, but carried on with her coolness.

"Hey." She mumbled at Adrien. He smiled weakly, clearly he wanted to sleep more, as any teenager in the train. Marinette was wide awake now, and wouldn't, couldn't, fall asleep. She took out her sketchbook and drew smoothly in the paper, watching the landscape as to get some inspiration.

It was charming, Adrien conclude, as he sneaked glances at her sketchbook and mostly at her face. He slowly fell asleep until a pleasant smell reached his nose. It was sweet, it smelled like Marinette but he was sure it wasn't her. He half opened his eyes and eyed the best thing that could ever happen to him.

Unsupervised of his horrible diets, he had to cough to cover his stomach rumbles. Marinette turned at him and with the most angelic smile offered a fresh croissant. She knew he liked croissants, but his little secret was that he absolutely loved the Dupain-Cheng's croissants more than any other from Paris. He could feel the love and warmness in every bite.

Without hesitation he took the croissant but sat up to look for a coffee at the buffet car. When he returned he had steaming coffee in one hand and Marinette's favorite chocolate on the other.

"You are the best seat buddy I could have hoped for." He complimented handing the chocolate at her. Marinette's cheeks were a little pink and she accepted the gift, putting it away in her bag.

"You are really hungry" she commented and at his embarrassment she added: "Please eat as much as you want! I brought them for Alya, but she replaced me for Nino. And you are _**much**_ better than her anyway" she joked loud enough for her to hear. "Have you seen her grumpy face?"

"Don't even remind me, that grumpy face made me run from my seat." He laughed.


	3. Day 3: Embarrassing

_**Embarrassing: Adrien is a dork and Marinette dies. Rip**_

Alya was disappointed at the room arrangements. Boys had a floor in the hotel, girls had another, consequently she wasn't close enough to her boyfriend. To make the matters even worse, the teachers swore there would be a teacher roaming the halls at all times, so no visiting the rooms at least it was absolutely necessary.

They still had sort of a playroom, open 24 hours a day, where all students could hang out, and to be fair, it was heck of a room; it had a new pool table, tv and video games, tables to play with boardgames or card-games, available at the front desk free of charge and around 4 p.m a small snack, free as well, was delivered by hotel staff at the lounge.

Marinette was impressed, but again, the major was kind enough to make a generous discount for her daughter's class in a top category hotel. She didn't see, or ate, breakfast yet, but rumor was that it was huge and crazy and delicious, just what you could expect from an incredible hotel. Depending on the day, students had to buy their own lunch or dinner, whenever they could find a place. Thankfully, the hotel had a perfect location (of course) and had a supermarket and several food chains three blocks away. They barely had time to accommodate things before coming down to explore London. Morning and then lunch had been rather quickly to Marinette, now it was around 4 p.m and she was waiting for her friend to finish showering. They were meeting the boys in the playroom in a couple of minutes, they would hang out, eat a snack and probably eat dinner somewhere afterwards.

Marinette was overthinking her clothes way too much. Not because of Adrien, you see, she was in London and Alya liked taking pictures with her in every corner; she was deliberating whether she was going to use the dark blue jeans with a nice sleeveless t-shirt or her short plaid skirt with a cute shirt. When the bluenette looked at the weather cast she decided to choose her blue jeans with the cute sleeveless t-shirt plus a thin red cardigan. It wasn't windy now but later, probably, there would be a chilly breeze and it would get colder.

After putting some perfume on, she took her room key card, her phone and purse. She headed out first to grab a snack Tikki would like; thankfully when she arrived to the playroom there was still food and, much to her surprise there where some of her classmates. Rose and Juleka played a card game with Alix and Max. Nino and Adrien where playing a new pool match while Kim, Ivan and Mylene watched.

Marinette went to the snack bar and not only did she grabbed some cookies for Tikki, she got a coffee for herself. The cup felt warm in her hands, making her feel better against the cool air running through the hotel. With a slow and relaxed pace she reached the pool table. Her ears were greeted with Adrien's loser scream.

"You suck dude." Nino laughed at Adrien's current number of balls in the table. Marinette snickered and looked at Adrien with a little of pity.

"Marinette please join me, I need help" the blonde begged with an apologetic smirk. Dupain-Cheng doubted for a second, then Nino spoke.

"No way you can defeat me with Marinette's help, dude." Marinette raised one eyebrow.

"Watch me" the bluenette challenged crossing arms, then sipping her coffee. "Hold my coffee Agreste, and watch how it's done." The Ladybug in her was showing and Marinette didn't realize. Adrien, however, could only relate the two of them, and when he said _"Sure Marinette"_ he almost said _"Sure My Lady"_ out of habit of course, not that Marinette looked like Ladybug at all. She looked cuter than Ladybug, her gestures were adorable when she concentrated on the ball. Ladybug looked more… mature? No, scratch that, more professional would be the right word.

"Adrien?" Marinette asked confused, tilting her head a little. _Yes, she's definitely more adorable than Ladybug._

"Sorry" he muttered as Marinette turned redder and redder with every sip of her coffee. She heard the not-so-quiet whisper from Nino to Adrien.

_Dude you were totally checking Marinette out. _

_I was not. _

_You totally were!. _

_Shut up Nino!_

"Hey girl! You feeling okay? You look really red!" And so, her worst fear became true. Her cheeks became crimson and her nervous sweat was almost evaporating.

"It's because my dude over there was checking her out like crazy" Nino commented silent, only the four of them heard him. Adrien, who was dying at the other side of the pool table, Marinette, who was becoming a little cherry pellet behind Alya, and the real couple, partly surprised, partly amused. This would become one embarrassing dinner.

Dinner went awesome, contrary to Marinette's or Adrien's predicament. Their friends stopped joking with the blonde's staring right after leaving the hotel a few minutes later, with the pool game finished (Nino and Alya won). She was feeling a little awkward right now because way ahead of her Nino and Alya walked hand in hand, while Adrien was beside her. There was no conversation between them, and Adrien was feeling lame, he wanted to talk to Marinette and get to know her better. _Quickly, think of something!_

"How was your meal?" The blonde asked while mentally facepalming, what was he? Her waiter? She smiled and nodded.

"It was delicious, how about yours?" She asked politely. Adrien answered with a simple great, cutting all conversation ahead.

"Do you like camembert?" He asked by inertia. The Agreste swore he heard Plagg snickering. Marinette looked taken aback by his comment, she found it funny, he concluded, as she laughed softly.

"Yes, I do. Do you?" She asked with a teasing smile in her face.

"No, but I got used to it." He said and Marinette seemed to wonder on the strange comment. She looked for her red cardigan and wore it, feeling a little cold. Adrien admired how good red looked on her.

"Can I tell you something Adrien?" The bluenette asked, looking distracted around the streets of London. "You suck at pool." Unscrupulous as she sometimes was, Marinette mocked with a cocky grin.

"Hey!" Adrien protested with a smirk in his face. "I may suck at pool, but you suck at fencing."

"Well, I can make clothes!" Marinette counterattacked, feeling proud.

"I can model!" Adrien followed, straightening his back.

"I can cook _and_ bake!" Marinette felt she had won, at Adrien's loss of words.

"You got me there, I couldn't possibly cook better than you. You make the best pastries in Paris."

"Thank you, it's nice having some recognition." The bluenette flipped her hair theatrically.

"No, actually, the best pastries in France." Marinette chuckled and almost tripped, landing in Adrien's side, holding his arm for support.

"Now you are just being a flatterer." She smiled and thanked him. They continued talking and goofing around until they reached the hotel. Marinette learned a lesson that day; Adrien's a total dork. He made bad jokes and puns, she even compared them to Chat's, in her head, and found out they were as awful. Well, no, she couldn't compare him to Chat, they were _totally_ different, mostly at least.


	4. Day 4: Hide Me

_**Hide me: "Hide me from Lila and Chloe!"**_

"Okay class, for this excursion we need you to get in pairs, preferably boy-girl pairs." Miss Bustier asked as everyone panicked. Marinette looked around for Nathaniel or Kim, giving up on Adrien the moment she heard Chloe's shriek chanting "Adrikins!". When she saw her former crush escaping from a cat fight between Chloe and Lila she couldn't help but giggle. Adrien immediately looked up, almost scared, and walked really fast towards Marinette.

"Please hide me."

"Adrikins! Tell Lila you are my partner!"

"Uh, sorry Chloe, I kind of- uh, promised Marinette I would do every excursion with her." Chloe looked really surprised and glared the bluenette with such intensity she almost flinched.

"You will so pay for this Dupain-Cheng" she threatened as she walked away, flipping her ponytail. Marinette muttered under her breath, something like "grow up", probably.

"You won't pay for it, I promise." Adrien assured with a tiny smile. Marinette smiled back and shrugged; Chloe's behavior towards her turned neutral, she wasn't such a bully anymore, but when it came to Adrien she went flipping crazy.

They walked through the exposition chosen by the teacher for them. It was really interesting display, talked about greek culture and had a variety of themes. Gods and goddesses, clothes, society, revolutions, invasions and so much more. Marinette had finished walking through the gallery long ago, not bothering to read the tiny descriptions as Adrien so carefully did. She stopped, however at the intricate details of the clothes the mannequins had. They looked absolutely stunning, trying to mimic a Chiton, a greek dress, made from silk?

"Yeah, that's silk, definitely." Adrien told her, form behind. Mari flinched a little, recovering her composure; when she looked over her shoulder she saw Adrien really close, reading the description plate closely. She immediately blushed and moved to a side, willing to continue her way towards the other expositions. She was blocked, however, by someone, and it wasn't Adrien. She looked up to the green piercing eyes of Lila, analyzing her coldly.

"Enjoying your little tour with Adrien? You should, because, eventually he'll be mine." She said with venom, totally unaware of who was behind her.

"Is that so?" A mocking tone with a hint of annoyance resonated behind Lila. "I don't know how many times I told you, Lila, we wouldn't work out. Plus, I don't date liars or people who bully my friends." Lila's face turned completely red, caught red handed. She whispered I hate you so much to no one specifically and ran far away from them. Marinette couldn't stop thinking how everyone around her acted like a twelve year old drama-queen.

"We should go and complete our reports or Miss Bustier is gonna kill us." Adrien remembered Mari, pointing towards the coffee tables just meters away from them.

"Seems like you didn't need me to hide you from your predators, you can defend yourself." The bluenette taunted with a silly smile.

"Oh, no, that was just because they attacked you Mari. I can't stand when they do that, not to my precious friend." Adrien smoothly moved his arm to Mari's shoulder, giving her a side-hug with a little squeeze.

"Thank you Adrien, you are wonderful." She chortled slightly supporting her head in his arm, adjusting back to normal a few seconds later. She totally missed how Adrien's face turned a bright pink. And Adrien couldn't stop his thoughts when he believed Marinette felt right in his arms, like if they were puzzle pieces meant to fit together.


	5. Day 5: Clumsy

_**Clumsy: Classical Marinette. Adrien starts getting comfortable around Mari.**_

"I swear Mari, you and Adrien are totally behaving like a couple." Alya stated with a cheeky smile.

"We are so _not_!" Marinette protested with a small pout.

"All of a sudden you two are sticking together in every excursion, when the four of us eat you two can't stop talking and for gods sake, you went shopping together!"

"First if all we are together in every excursion because Lila and Chloe are a pain in Adrien's ass, secondly, you and Nino are all lovey-dovey when we eat and its gross so we try our best to ignore you and last of all, my 15 year old me got the best experience of her life, shopping with Adrien Agreste. He let me choose his clothes Alya! That was so cool, I felt like a real designer! Well, kind of, it wasn't my clothes, but still!" Marinette numbered and fangirled a little. She started jumping exited with all the afternoon experience coming back, as she folded some new t-shirts she bought and Adrien's "special present".

As a joke, he bought her a small cosmetic bag that said "Meow" in pink glitter. She laughed at it so hard he actually bought it and simply said:

_"You will remember me every time you look for some make up to look **meowrvelous**" Marinette couldn't stop laughing at the pun and at the little bag._

_"Shut up!" She giggled trying to stop herself from almost crying._

"Oh look at you smiling all happy and giggly!" Alya pointed out. "Stop lying to me, I know you girl!" After some laughs and a short silence the future reporter spoke again: "I though you said you were over him."

"Well, yeah. I mean, all he does is thoughtful and nice and super dreamy but I'm not nervous around him anymore. It's like I can be normal and enjoy a nice conversation, I like him sure, but just as a friend."

On the floor above them the boys discussed something similar.

"Dude, you are behaving so weird around Mari, what's up with that?" Nino asked as he tried on a new cap he bought.

"What do you mean?" Adrien asked, trying to evade the question. He knew exactly what his best friend meant, truth was that he became progressively more comfortable around the bluenette, and it showed physically and verbally.

It was really eye-catching as Adrien rarely interacted with girls in that way. He hugged Marinette, tickled and mocked her, made puns and played silly around her. To sum up, he was behaving as a total dork, the model façade melting away with Mari around.

"C'mon dude, don't play dumb." Nino insisted, a little eager in gathering some info for Alya later.

"Well, I've known Mari for a long time now, and she was always kind and generous you know? She was always such good and supporting friend but…" Adrien sifted away in thought, searching for the perfect words.

"But?" Nino pushed, a little excited for what his friend might say later.

"But I might started seeing her as more than just a friend" Adrien confessed embarrassed and Nino almost jumped out of joy. Alya was so going to love to hear the good news!

"_What?!_" Both said in unison at the news. Alya was happy and wanted to die at the same time. Nino was dumbfounded. They discussed this in silence in a corner of the playroom that was filled with music and noisy chatter. Adrien and Marinette where talking about what they should get for dinner over a friendly UNO game.

"I got an idea. Loser pays the winner's dinner." Adrien challenged shuffling the deck. Marinette smiled with excitement.

"Oh Agreste you are so going to loose. I'm gonna kick you ass at UNO."

"Sure you talk big Dupain-Cheng, but have you ever played against me? I am exceptionally outstanding."

"Enough! Deal the cards already." With a special glint in his eyes, Adrien dealt the cards professionally as they both established their rules.

"The last card after saying "UNO" can't be any Wild or Draw Four Wild, you can accumulate Draw Two's plus Draw Four Wild but can't go the other way around."

"Ugh, what a baby." Mari trash talked with a smile in her face, arranging her cards by color. "Best of three?" She inquired and started, after Adrien nodded.

The first round was okay, Marinette easily won as she had an advantage over the special cards. _"I'm just lucky sometimes"_ she mentioned as she took all the cards for a quick shuffle.

"Well, I should be the one who's lucky, after all, long ago a beautiful girl made me a lucky charm." Adrien remembered, mocking Marinette a little. She suddenly felt a little warm.

"And who was her?" She queried, stopping her shuffle for a second.

"Can't tell, it's a secret." Adrien smiled, taunting her a little.

"What a coincidence. Some time ago, a really handsome boy made me a lucky charm too." Marinette teased with a little flirty tone hiding in her words.

"Oh? Do I know him?" Adrien fake-innocently asked. Marinette shrugged and began shuffling again. Once she dealt the cards she excused herself for a second, she returned shortly with a glass of water.

Looking uninterested at his cards Adrien purred:

"Where you _thirsty_ Marinette?" The mentioned girl almost choked on her water as Adrien chuckled a little.

"Shut _up_" she mumbled sorting her cards. The round was really intense, but Adrien won. They were tie, the one to win the round payed the other dinner and it was getting heated. Adrien shuffled quickly as Marinette looked at him dead in the eye, preparing her comeback. When dealing the cards, Adrien made a mistake and Mari took it as an opportunity.

"What's up hot _stuff_? You getting nervous?" She sassed, controlling her voice as much as she could to keep it from trembling. Her hands, however, seemed to have a mind of it's own, as they made some stupid movement and instead of getting a card from the deck they flipped the small glass with little water left. It was so fast that Adrien nearly got the chance to move away from the small river of water.

His shirt, pitch black, looked as if it wasn't wet, but Marinette knew it was. Her face turned bright red as she ran for some paper to clean up Adrien. She ran from a place to the other, so fast and with adrenaline in her veins she didn't notice how boldly she pressed her hands agains Adrien's stomach. She noticed his hard core tightening beneath her small hands.

She backed down immediately feeling totally flustered and wanted to die, although it wasn't a big deal. After all, no one was paying attention to them and it was only water, it'll dry eventually. Walking over to dinner felt a little awkward to Marinette, although Adrien was smiling widely and seemed really happy, making the bluenette feel more comfortable little by little.


	6. Day 6: Secrets

_**Secrets: Adrien discovers something juicy...**_

"I'll come back in a minute guys" Marinette excused herself, looking rather pale. Adrien looked up to her and felt concerned. The trip was almost over and he couldn't believe how fast he had fell for Marinette. He wasn't in love but he couldn't say he was in love with Ladybug anymore; the blonde was in a dilemma, thinking how could he even both girls in the same level of _"liking"_. Last night, when he realized he had come down to the playroom as not to disturb Nino; Adrien needed to talk to Plagg, someone who knew exactly how was he feeling, or at least knew how much he loved Ladybug. Plagg had listened and then shrugged it off and scoffed _"Teenagers"_ much to Adrien's dismay. He needed advice or else his heart would probably explode.

After a while, Marinette still didn't return, making Adrien anxious. He forgot about it for a second as he excused himself to the toilet, near the playroom. When he was washing his hands he overheard a sweet voice speaking.

"Marinette, don't worry, I get that it's difficult getting food for me, don't worry. We will find some grocery store before leaving!"

"I know Tikki, but I still feel terrible. How could I forget about feeding you?" Adrien squinted his eyes in confusion. Who was Marinette talking to? From his shirt Plagg moved uneasily, calling Adrien's attention.

"We shouldn't eavesdrop kid, it's none of our business." He vacillated quiet, and Adrien started to suspect more and more. Since when did Plagg started being all moral and such? It was all too suspicious and so, he ignored his kwami. What he heard after changed his life forever.

"Oh Tikki, I'm such a klutz and so irresponsible. I'm sure no one in history who had a miraculous forgot to feed their kwami, specially not any former Ladybugs."

Whatever Marinette or _Tikki_ said after that didn't reach Adrien's ears. He felt an invisible hand squeezing his heart, making him breath heavily. She was there all along, right in front of his face. Plagg was worried as Adrien looked as if he was having a panic attack with a dumb smile in his face. He was hardly breathing, laying against the wall to not fall to the floor. But his cheeks were flushed and he had an eye to eye grin.

"Kid you are freaking me out. Are you okay?" Plagg asked reaching eye-level. Adrien nodded eagerly.

"She's Ladybug, I cannot- Oh my god."

"Yeah, I know. Problem solved right? You liked the same girl all this time."

"And you knew? Oh god. I won't be able to talk to her, I mean she's the love of my life, my ultimate crush. And, _mon dieu_, I'll be sitting by her in the train when we return! How can I resist kissing her—" he began wondering in his head.

"Whoah, whoah, slow down big guy. She cannot know you know, she might get mad, and you don't even know she likes you. I don't want to get your hopes down, but Ladybug doesn't like Chat Noir, how do you know Marinette likes Adrien?"

"You are right Plagg. I should probably keep it cool." He breathed in and out a few times, splashed some water in his face and headed back. Marinette a.k.a Ladybug was sitting in her chair, talking to her friends. He sat down quietly, not interrupting whatever conversation they might be having. He couldn't help but look at Marinette's features. Her blue-eyes and long eyelashes, the gentle freckles dancing down her eye-level, her soft-looking hair, they looked all so familiar, making him feel fuzzy inside. He wanted to reach and comb his fingers through her silky hair—

"Adrien? You okay?" Marinette asked concerned.

"Y-yeah, sorry, what happened?" Adrien muttered.

"I was asking if you would come with me to a grocery store to get some fuel for the trip back home. Alya and Nino had some date planned already, so they can't join."

"Yeah, sure." He simply said, not making a big deal out of it. They had to walk a few blocks till they reached a grocery store chain. Adrien couldn't stop contemplating Marinette, and he was really surprised that he didn't see Ladybug in Marinette; he felt that every time he remembered Ladybug he could only see Marinette. It made so much sense, Ladybug being Marinette.

He couldn't stop his thoughts, he wanted to hug her, hold her, kiss her and tell her how much he loves her. But that had to wait; Ladybug was always eager to maintain their identities secret, even between them, so he didn't want her to think he had betrayed her trust. For now, not too long though, he had to be happy just watching her and being just her friend. That "just a friend" title had backfired a little.

"You won't get anything for the trip back?" Marinette wondered, noticing how he was just watching her pick her (Tikki's) cookies.

"I can't think of anything to buy." He deflected, searching for the best answer to keep Mari from thinking he was creepy.

"I can help you with that, if you want of course."

"We can get something together, to share."

"That would be amazing actually, we can get something really sweet and something really salty. And maybe some sour candy!" She started naming, making Adrien chuckle. You are so cute Marinette, he though to himself with fondness.

"What did you say?" The bluenette spluttered blushing furiously. Adrien almost died right in that moment.

"Did I say that out loud?" The model babbled, feeling how his ears started to turn red. _Oh god, oh god, fuck, fuck._

"Either you said that out loud or I started reading minds." Marinette jested and sighed, trying to get back to normal. "So, wanna grab some chips?" She asked ignoring her embarrassment and Adrien's.

"Yeah, sure." He agreed zipping his mouth and mind forever. Meanwhile, Marinette was panicking in her head, overthinking and putting up together a million scenarios of why did Adrien just called her cute out of the blue.

I mean, she was over her crush, right? Or was she not? That's a no for me Marinette, her conscience mocked. Better not overthink and stay calm, she still had to return in TGV with Adrien by her side, so she just had to carry on.


	7. Day 7: Sweet Tooth

_**Sweet Tooth: Adrien likes **__**everything**__** in the bakery. Feed him please.**_

Marinette had no problem when her friends awed at her parent's patisseries, what she didn't like was seeing how Adrien drooled for one croissant but refused to take one. He had said something like he was in a strict dietary regimen, according to his nutritionist he had gained _some_ weight in London.

To be fair, Adrien didn't look like he had gained weight, he looked just fine, but orders were orders. Until Marinette found some way to crack his diet and feed him already. Her mom looked at her, then at Adrien and sighed.

"Adrien, honey, I insist, you can choose anything you like completely free." Sabine repeated with a sweet, motherly smile.

"You are really kind Ms. Cheng, but I'm afraid I won't contain myself if I eat just a small bite." Marinette shook her head slowly. Alya and Nino were late, completely on purpose according to Alya's suggestive texts, so she had to kill some time with Adrien, not that she minded at all.

"Adrien, could you help me in the kitchen?" Mari offered, coming up with a brilliant idea. For her, nothing opened and tempted a stomach more than cooking and smelling the freshly baked goods. After deliberating in her head what to cook, she decided for cookies. Tikki needed to refill her stash and they were easy and quick to make and bake. She took all the ingredients and handed Adrien a blue apron. "Look at you, looking like a… cooking model?" She smirked as she tied her pink polka dot apron.

"And you look so… Marinette." He replied with no mock in his voice, being completely genuine with a silly smile. "Alright, how do we start?"

"I'll measure the ingredients. Then you'll mix them while I prepare the oven and the cooking sheet. You'll put them in the oven and then we are completely done." Marinette listed, making it as simple as it was.

Butter here and there, some sugar and flour later Adrien was mixing all the mixture. Marinette couldn't obviate her eyes from looking at the way Adrien's biceps down his black shirt contracted when he mixed. Almost drooling, and maybe watching a little too much, Marinette snapped back to earth, to scoop the mixture and drop little balls of cookie dough in the cooking sheet.

As she did, Adrien seized the opportunity to look at her. She had little flour in her face and hair somehow. The apron, surely done by her, fitted her perfectly and although it was a really cute design, Adrien couldn't stop thinking on how good she looked in it. He was so lost in his thoughts that not only he didn't notice Marinette caught him red handed, but he didn't see how she sneakily scooped a little of dough with her finger. He wasn't fast enough to move, and so the bluenette smudge his cheek with cookies.

"Oh no, you didn't." Adrien chuckled touching the food in his face with delicacy. "I can't eat this, I'll break the diet." He approached Marinette slowly, laying smoothly in the counter.

"I can't do anything about it." She shrugged it off, looking at the damage she made. "You'll have to eat it."

"You could eat it." Adrien suggested with a fun glint in his eyes; his objective, making Marinette blush, succeeded. Now, phase two.

"From your face?! Agreste that's gross!" She laughed so loud she almost cried, making his _friend_ melt at that sight. _God I love her so much_. He though while joining her laugh. Few seconds later Adrien was free of butter, and looked at Marinette while she baked the first batch of cookies. "Alya and Nino are sure taking forever." She commented to Adrien while she stood at his side. He nodded and checked his phone for any missed calls or messages. He had nothing, and shook his head; Marinette sighed but then smiled. She offered something to drink as they waited for the cookies.

"Wait, Marinette, you got something there." Adrien noted, telling her where the flour was. He reached for her cheek and dusted the flour off of her pretty rosy cheeks, he couldn't, _wouldn't_, however retreat his hand. He caressed and skipped a beat when Marinette closed her eyes and leaned further in his touch.

Slowly, but steadily, both started approaching each other. Adrien looked into Marinette's eyes searching for regret or anything that would make him stop, but her eyes were sparkly and made him feel warm. The blonde felt Mari's hand upon his, making him proceed with confidence.

"Adrien" the bluenette hummed. Both breathings stopped at the same time, their lips almost caressed, their noses touched gently—

"Hey gurl!" Alya chanted from the front door. Marinette and Adrien flinched away from each other like the touch burned their souls. Both were a deep crimson color although the looks they sent each other were far away from being shy. Both clearly tried to transmit the same thing: "Unfinished business."

"Hey Alya, hey Nino." Marinette greeted with a cute smile. After Sabine came to handle the cookies, and after Marinette sneaked some goodies, the four of them climbed up stairs to the bluenette's balcony, to enjoy one of the most beautiful summer days.

"Dude, you want a cookie?" Nino asked as the girls climbed down to get some coffee and tea.

"Yes, please give me a million." Adrien whined with a huff.

"You stress eating?" The DJ asked curiously.

"Kind of." The blonde shrugged devouring the cookie.

How would he handle his situation with Marinette now? Will they still be friends? Does Marinette care enough about him to even be thinking about it right now?

_Yes she is, she is dying._


	8. Day 8: A favor only you can do

_**A Favor Only You Can Do: Marinette helps cooking something for Nathalie. #NathalieBestMom2k19**_

"Marinette can I ask you a favor?" The blonde model approached the bluenette with a shy smile.

"Yeah, sure." She answered with total confidence.

"Well, I know you can cook the best pastries in the world and I was hoping you could teach me, or help me, do a birthday cake." Marinette kind of blushed at his compliment. They never talked about that kiss that never was, they couldn't find any occasion that felt right, there was always something, or someone, on the way.

"What kind of cake do you have in mind?" She asked almost professionally, used to taking orders in the bakery. He saw Adrien frown and think a little. She shifted in the bench a little.

"I didn't think about it" he finally said with a sight.

"For who is it?" Marinette asked out of curiosity and to get a slight idea how the cake should be decorated.

"For Nathalie, my father's assistant. I wanted to gift her something special made by me because, well, she's the best." Adrien sincerely explained, his eyes glinting and that angelic smile crossing his features. Mari nodded and though a little before scribbling a little cake sketch in one of her pages.

"We can make something like this, it's simple but I think this would suit Nathalie, what do you think?" It was a simple small round cake, a bit taller than the average cake. It had, according to Marinette's neat and cute handwriting, white hard frosting on the outside and a bouquet of flowers, her favorite would be the perfect ones, arranged at the top.

Adrien was fascinated; Marinette though the idea and sketched in less than two minutes, he couldn't contain the words coming out of him.

"You are amazing Marinette." This time felt different that other times. Maybe because Adrien finally realized he was in love with her, maybe it was because they almost kissed. He will give Marinette time to figure out herself, after all, she was not in love with Chat Noir, how could she be in love with Adrien?

"Thanks" she muttered "When can you come home? I know you are usually busy"

"Oh, whenever you can, I can scape my house easily." Marinette opened her eyes impressed. Adrien didn't look like the type to be, well, a troublemaker.

"I don't want you to get in trouble. When is Nathalie's birthday?"

"On Friday." Adrien remembered.

"Well, we gotta do the cake either today or tomorrow, the batter needs rest." The bluenette pointed out.

"I can go today, tomorrow I have fencing and it would be more complicated."

"Okay then! Let me text mama and papa, I need to be sure we got the ingredients." As Adrien nodded, the bell rang and all their classmates began to fill in the classroom. They sat down on their seats and smiled to themselves, gaining some looks from their best friends.

The class was slow to both Adrien and Marinette, and the bluenette was really worried there might be an akuma attack. It would be disastrous, having to leave the cake half baked or having to stand up Adrien. That would be a nightmare.

She got a message on her phone from her family chat, her mama answering her questions. Apparently there were some supplies for the cake missing and they would have to buy them in a market. They also were leaving later that afternoon, around five or six, but hopefully they would have finished long ago.

When school finally finished, they kind of did everything sneakily, not Nino or Alya, or anyone else for that matter noticed they went together to Marinette's house. The girl told Adrien they had to buy a couple of things for the cake, it wouldn't be long. Adrien agreed with a smile, that meant more time spent with Mari and more time away from his cold house. They arrived to Marinette's place pretty quickly and had some snacks before heading out.

The grocery shop trip was all fun and laughter like they were before in London. Adrien had bought the materials because he was going to make the cake. Mari wasn't convinced at first but due to his stubbornness she let him pay.

_So far_ everything was going okay. They had finished with the batter, well, Adrien had finished making the batter while Mari instructed and watched. It wasn't the most difficult recipe but for Adrien who never cooked could get difficult. Now they were doing some homework as the cake baked, with some Jagged Stone in the background. Sometimes talking and helping each other.

Marinette couldn't concentrate. They were in the kitchen. In the same kitchen they almost kissed, and Adrien was fine and alright with everything. He wasn't nervous, he didn't stutter and made his homework efficiently. Did he care at all? Was he thinking about it? Did he even remember?

Adrien felt Marinette's gaze on him, and felt tempted on looking at her back, reach for her and kiss the hell out of her.

But that wasn't going to happen. Not yet at least. He had been very impulsive last time and decided that probably he had to show Marinette how he felt _gradually_. He was thinking maybe he could start by hugging her.

Maybe that was too much. Maybe he had to make little compliments, maybe gifts…

_No, no gifts_. He decided, nothing that would look cold and materialistic. Maybe some homemade gifts, like her lucky charm, or spending time with her, but that would be a gift for himself, not for Marinette. Model her designs? No, that was surely stupid.

Something would come up, eventually. But he had to show her something because pretty worlds weren't enough to show how much he loved her.

Suddenly the _ding_ of the oven sounded making both teenagers jolt. Marinette told Adrien to give it 5 more minutes, just in case.

"Oh. We didn't discuss the filling!" Marinette exclaimed out of the blue. "What does Nathalie like?"

"I know she enjoys coffee Ice Cream, which I think it's weird cause every time I see her drinking something is coffee, I though she might enjoy something else."

"You might say then, that she loves coffee 24/7, if she drinks her that much." Marinette concluded with a little smile. She then got up and started to put her oven gloves on. "I can make some coffee and chocolate mouse" Adrien nodded.

"Marinette we are heading out, we already closed the bakery so if you need to get out use the other door." Sabine chanted as she saw her daughter carefully take the cake out of the oven.

"Okay maman, take care!" She said with a smile as she checked the cake, seeing if it was cooked perfectly. Adrien got up with great expectations, as he nodded Sabine goodbye and scooted closer to look at his creation.

Once out of the mold, Adrien admired with glinting eyes, the jiggly looking cake, it looked like the softest round pillow he could lay his face on.

"Back off Agreste, we don't want your drooling in the cake!" Marinette laughed as she gave him a little soft push. Adrien got his cellphone and took a picture of the unfinished cake, accidentally (not) getting a little bit of Marinette's amused face and part of her frame. "I don't want to kick you out or anything, but the cake needs to cool off, and it takes over-night usually. I will put the mousse tomorrow; if you want and if you can, you can stop by tomorrow and decorate it with me. We should give her the cake on Friday afternoon, right?"

"Okay, I'll buy the flowers tomorrow and come by." Adrien sighed and spoke "Can I stay a little longer? I don't want to go home." Marinette smiled with a little pity and nodded.

"Help me clean up? We can play video games later, or watch a movie, or whatever you want actually" Mari laughed awkwardly. Adrien's face lit up and nodded enthusiastically.

_*****Next Day*****_

"Marinette, Adrien's here for you!" Sabine chanted to Marinette who was finishing putting the cake together.

"Send him up!" Marinette answered perfecting the cake. When she heard the footsteps coming closer she looked back. The sight of Adrien with a beautiful bouquet of flowers almost made her faint. It was bigger than what they needed and had an intense variety. She also noticed he had a separate, smaller, bouquet at his side.

"Hi" Adrien smiled with a small blush. Marinette just slightly giggled, then straightened herself and cleared her throat.

"Hey, I was just about to start coating the cake." She explained briefly. "Leave the flowers by the table, I'll prepare them later. You wanna coat the cake?" She asked with a sincere smile. Adrien nodded as he left the big bouquet in the table.

"Marinette, I brought these for you as a thank you, I hope you like them." He said handing her a five-flower pink roses bouquet. Marinette blushed a deep crimson, accepting the flowers with a weak _thank you_.

"How did you know these are my favorite flowers?" She asked out of curiosity. Adrien started sweating. Chat Noir knew, he had heard Tom Dupain mention that the time he had visited the house hold. Adrien however had no idea.

"A wild guess?" He kind of asked, hinting a little too much. Marinette shrugged and have the comment no importance as she placed the flowers in a vase with water.

Adrien coated the cake with infinite patience as Marinette cut the flowers and selected, designing the arrangements of every flower. She was humming a Jagged Stone song, probably doing it out of habit. Adrien thought it was cute so he said nothing and enjoyed the sound of her voice while frosting the cake.

The cake was a success, well, at least it looked like a success. It was one of the prettiest cakes Marinette has decorated in a long time, a creation of Adrien, with a little collaboration from her part. Sabine agreed with Marinette's thoughts, congratulating Adrien and being really proud of Marinette.

"Now, now, you should take a picture with the cake!" Sabine proposed.

"That would be amazing" Adrien agreed, taking his phone out to give it to Marinette's mom. Carefully Marinette grabbed the cake and smiled to the camera, Adrien stood besides her, his arm over Marinette's shoulder, squeezing her arm a little, smiling brightly. Marinette was smiling now and blushing, Adrien was smiling cheekily, loving how Marinette reacted at his actions.

_*****On Friday*****_

"Here, I hope Nathalie likes it." Marinette said with a smile, giving Adrien the cake in one of the bakery's box, the logo and box totally covered by Marinette's style.

"Oh, aren't you coming?" Adrien asked sadly. He was hoping she would come along and congratulate Nathalie. Maybe even hang out for a bit in his house.

"Can I come? Won't I be intruding?" The bluenette asked, naturally she wouldn't think she was invited.

"Of course! It would be even better if you come!" Adrien assured with a sincere smile. Marinette blushed and though before saying:

"Okay! But just for a while…" She promised as she helped the blonde into the car with the cake. The ride was silent, as Marinette observed the Parisian streets and watched the cake wouldn't fall at her side. The driver, who she knew from before, was dead silent all the way and Adrien seemed nervous, stirring in his seat.

The agreste mansion was as giant and cold as ever. It was so tall that Marinette had the impression the whole house was looking down at her, judging her for not being rich. She breathed in deeply as she waited for Adrien, who was looking for where Nathalie was, to surprise her.

They quietly went to the kitchen, avoiding Nathalie's office door. They took the cake from the box and added the candles, lighting them up. They knocked on her door.

"Yes?" She asked. On cue, Adrien got in slowly with Marinette.

"Happy birthday Nathalie!" Both teenagers exclaimed with smiles, showing her the cake. Adrien couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing. Nathalie Sancœur, his father's assistant, his tutor who never flinched, always with a poker face, had shown happiness by showing the biggest smile he had ever seen on her. Both Adrien and Marinette started to sing Happy Birthday a little awkwardly at first, finishing with a shared laugh.

Nathalie blew the candles and decided they should eat the cake in the dining room, finding secretly adorable and clearly noticing both teenagers liked each other. She felt, however, a little remorse as she had recognized Marinette from previous occasions. She remembered she took her note from Adrien's present a few years ago and her heart felt a little heavy. At the end of the day, a piece of cake reached Gabriel's studio along with a note from Nathalie, telling him the cake was cooked by Adrien and a _friend_. Gabriel was interested and took a little portion. It was too sweet for his liking but clearly delicious.


	9. Day 9: Birthday Gifts

_**Birthday Gifts: Adrien discovers who actually made him his favorite scarf and gifts back an equally significant gift. **_

It was beginning to get cold in Paris, and Adrien loved this weather for many reasons. First, he loved wearing his long sleeved pajamas and curling in his bed like a big old cat. Secondly, but probably his favorite, was using his cyan scarf. The softest, best looking scarf that felt really special.

Whenever he used that scarf however he could feel Nathalie was uncomfortable. He could never guess why, but he could feel it. So he decided he would bring that issue up while he had breakfast.

"Nathalie, do you like my scarf?" He asked innocently. She nodded, avoiding his gaze, looking at her tablet. "Why do you feel so uncomfortable around me when I use it?" He asked unscrupulous, watching how she flinched slightly.

"I don't." She denied simply, but couldn't get the weight off her shoulders. Next, she sighed and sat down next to Adrien. "Look, don't get angry okay? But that scarf wasn't a gift from your father." The blonde felt disappointed but not surprised as he sighed, stopping his breakfast.

"Then who was it from?" He asked wondering who could have been. Could it have been Felix, his cousin? Maybe Chloé? No she couldn't have been, she gave him something extravagant.

"It was from that adorable girl, the one who came here from my birthday." Adrien's eyes opened as saucers and began getting mad.

"Marinette?!" He exclaimed getting redder by the minute, he was furious. "Why do I know this now?"

"It was my fault. I forgot to choose you a gift from your father and after all the events, her gift was right there, I had to."

"Oh no Nathalie, it wasn't your fault. This was my father's fault, don't worry about it though." He said simply, chilling down. He owed Marinette a big apology and he should get her something meaningful. Maybe he couldn't sew or make clothes but he knew cheesy fashion, and already had a wonderful idea.

As Marinette walked trough the school yard she clenched to her jacket, looking for comfort from the chilly breeze. Break-time was almost over, and with it the last period of the day. She hadn't seen Adrien at all today, which was odd. Nino said something like he was busy with something but that he came to classes.

Marinette started overthinking and drew up with the conclusion that maybe he didn't want to hang out with her anymore. She didn't know how she got there, but she couldn't stop thinking about it until she saw him. He was running up the stairs, across were she was, he looked agitated as he waved at her with a tired smile. She was so happy he was using the scarf she made him that she almost tripped with her own feet. Eventually he entered his classroom, and Marinette did the same.

Tired as she always was on a Tuesday afternoon Marinette almost didn't notice the box in her chaise. Sabine had told Mari something she kind of ignored as she wanted to sleep. The box was black and had a little green sticky note on the top. It read: From Adrien. Marinette was curious and clearly surprised. It wasn't her birthday, it was no special holiday, so there was no reason for a gift.

In the box there was another note. Underneath the note she could see the known polka dot pattern from Ladybug, and she freaked out a little. Did he know?

There was no way he could know, definitely. She started to wonder, and before her thoughts would consume her she took the note.

_"This is an apology and a thank you for the scarf you made me. There were misunderstandings and I though it was from someone else. This hoodie has a meaning for me, because you are the Ladybug to my Chat Noir. Thank you Mari."_

The hoodie had a Ladybug design and was absolutely gorgeous. It was cozy and felt comfortable, perfect to use in winter. She couldn't use it outside her house as she would feel really paranoid someone might recognize her, which was a shame as it felt like a waste. The hoodie was one hundred times better because it was from Adrien. He had though of a gift for her, she found odd, however, the reference to Ladybug and Chat Noir. Did Adrien know how flirty was Chat with Ladybug? Did he mean it that way, or did he mean it as a team? Marinette felt lost but was sure as hell not gonna tell Chat about it, he might get jealous or start asking questions about Adrien, and that might reveal her secret.

She put on her new hoodie, looking how it fitted perfectly, just a little oversized as it was now the trend. Marinette grabbed her phone and almost dropped it when she had a new message from Adrien.

"Did you like the gift?" He simply asked with an angel emoji. The bluenette smiled as she took a picture with a cool grin, her cheeks a little red; that would be the perfect answer.

"Yes, it's purrfect." She replied with a grinning cat emoji, making reference to his little note. On the Agreste mansion the blonde model was having a heart attack. The picture was not only angelical but the pun was unexpected and amazing. Just like Marinette.

He was the one to give a gift, but he felt like he received a double blessing. When he transformed to do the night patrol he couldn't get that stupid smile out of his face and Ladybug noticed. _What was up with Chaton? _She wasn't going to ask, she respected his personal place, yet he found it amusing and felt happy for her friend.


	10. Day 10: Puns

_**Puns: Adrien being a dork part 2.**_

It wasn't often that the whole gang, meaning all the students that Marinette knew, had parties. The responsible was always Chloe, when her dad went out of town she would throw this awesome parties in the hotel dining room, like the ones she did on her birthday, only now, as she was one of the biggest students she turned 18 and that meant alcohol for some reason.

Marinette wasn't fan of alcohol, she had tasted wine before but she hated it. Alya and Nino on the other hand seemed to love it. They both enjoyed craft beer and good wine, not as the party drinking kind of consumption, they like consuming alcohol responsibly along with food.

That wasn't the case tonight apparently. The couple had decided to get wasted at the same time making Marinette worried to death; in reality they were okay, just goofing around. As she drank a glass of coke sitting far from the whole dancing drank she wondered where Adrien could be. She knew he came with them, but sometime, somewhere in the crowd he had been adduced, probably Lila or Chloe. She sighed, hiding behind her palms and sighing, she was bored as hell and all her friends were either not here or wasted; there was no more food and alcohol it's a no-no.

She felt someone sitting beside her, an intoxicating fragrance with a hint of alcohol reaching her nostrils. _Whoever you are please don't hit on me. _Mari begged in her mind.

"Want to hear a pizza joke?" She heard a known voice at her side. "Never mind, it's too _cheesy_." For a second she thought it might be Chat Noir, and she believed that until she saw Adrien's face, eyes half lidded and cheeks a little red. His black shirt totally hugged his body and his dark jeans, _oh my god._

"You seem a little down Mari, let me cheer you up!" He said with a goofy smile. "You know, my cat was just sick on the carpet, I don't think it's _feline_ well." He said simply.

"You got a cat?" Mari asked surprised. Adrien looked at her for a second, then processed.

"Yeah sure." He said simply, making Marinette laugh. He was being such a dork. He slightly rested his head in her shoulder, nuzzling like a little cat. "People using umbrellas always seem to be _under the weather_." Marinette chortled as she caught Adrien before he went head first to the floor. She felt a little angry, and took his glass away.

"C'mon Adrien, you need some fresh air, or a place where you can fall asleep properly." She said getting him up. He wasn't wasted, he was sleepy, as he could follow Marinette correctly and even remembered to get the jackets because it was cold outside. The Parisian night welcomed them with cold weather and a clear sky, lights tilting all around the Eiffel Tower and the city below it.

Marinette guided Adrien to one of the lounge chairs, sitting him down; naturally he laid down, closing his eyes. Marinette felt Adrien's hand tingling besides her own, playing with her fingers. "Why did the cookie cry? Because his father was _a wafer_ so long!" He blurted out making Marinette snicker a little.

"What do you have, a book of puns or something?" She asked looking at him. He opened one of his eyes, analyzing her.

"I don't know why you complaint Mari, some people are unable to tell jokes like me you know?"

"Who can't tell awesome jokes like you?" The bluenette asked, smoothly playing with his hand.

"Towels. They can't tell jokes." Marinette looked at him quizzically. "They have a dry sense of humor." Marinette contained her laugher. "C'mon that's pretty funny." Marinette scooted closer to him, one of her legs resting in the free side Adrien didn't occupy.

"I have a pun too." Marinette announced. "What do you call a fake noodle?" She laughed remembering the answer. Adrien shrugged. "An _Impasta." _Mari laughed out loud, almost crying. It was such a good pun, he could hear Adrien laugh and she swore it was so melodious she could cuddle him right there.

"I'm not kitten when I say you're the cat's meow." Adrien replied with another pun pulling Marinette with him. "Sorry, I'm cold" he simply said, hugging her tightly.

"What, no pun?" She joked snuggling closely to his chest. It felt so much warmer, she even felt she could fall asleep right there.

"Marinette, hey Mari wake up." Adrien shook her a little. Marinette opened her heavy eyelids, were was she? "My bodyguard came to pick me up, I'm taking you home, c'mon" The bluenette stood up with her eyes closed, and groggily walked along with Adrien guiding herself with his hand. "Open your pretty eyes Mari, you'll fall down." He said with a smile. There was still people, probably this could continue till sunrise, but clearly both teenagers had enough if it. Once they were in the car, both with their jackets, Mari with her purse since minute 1, they almost fell asleep again, both snuggled, ignoring the driver. When they felt the stopped they both worked up with a jolt.

"I'll walk you out." Adrien offered as Marinette looked for the house keys, watching out for Tikki. The door was five steps away from the car, but Adrien being a gentleman, and totally deprived of love, wanted to accompany Marinette.

Said girl opened the door slowly although she was freezing. She looked back at Adrien with heavy eyes, she felt they were right together, his arms, his warmth, his smell, his hands, everything. His voice, his stupid puns, his lips. She was so lost in though she didn't notice how she reached for him and hugged him tightly; when she did realized and started to panic, Adrien hugged her back as tightly. He even gave her a light kiss in her head.

"Thank you Marinette." He said pulling back, feeling the gorilla's gaze in his back. He looked at Marinette sweetly and contained himself from giving her a kiss. Meanwhile, Marinette was gathering the guts to kiss him, she wasn't fast enough as she stood stupidly how he walked back to his car. He turned back and waved with a shy smile, she could only smile and wave back, entering her house. With heavy (but silent) steps she climbed the stairs. With her Ladybug hoodie and pajamas she snuggled with Tikki. Funny was, she couldn't sleep now.


	11. Day 11: FaceTime

_**FaceTime: Marinette needs helps with physics ASAP.**_

"Alya I need help." Marinette sentenced to the phone as she faced timed her bff. The scenery where Marinette worked was catastrophic. All the notebooks scattered around, pencils, highlighters and rulers everywhere. She was in major crisis because she had certain exam in a week and she understood none of it.

"You know who is _very _good at physics?" Alya asked suggestively. Marinette rolled her eyes. No way in hell would she concentrate if Adrien taught her physics face to face.

"Yes Alya, but I can't ask Adrien for help. I would be too nervous around him."

"You don't have to meet him, you know?" Alya suggested with a cheeky grin "You can face-time him, like you are doing right now with me."

"You think I will be able to understand physics if he teaches me through the phone? You know I got an insect's brain when it comes to physics."

"Adrien is the best physics teacher I know girl. He has explained Nino a million times before, who explained it to me. How do you think I explained physics to you before? You give me way too much credit." Marinette laughed a little, yeah, it was a bit suspicious but how on earth would she know?

"Okay, okay, wait that I text him and see if I can face-time him, he's usually busy." Marinette tells as she grabs her phone, not hanging up on Alya. The bluenette was careful with her words, choosing correctly without sounding clingy or nervous. Adrien's answer was instant, and that made Marinette swoon a little. Apparently he had no problem and was available all day for her call. _Flatterer. _Marinette though with a smile.

"It looks like he said yes, talk to you later baby!" Alya laughed making Marinette blush, ending the call with a _talk to you later_.

Was Marinette panicking? _No…_

Okay, maybe a little, but she was confident, she was strong! She was (and is) Marinette!

She had no time to panic anyway, not five minutes passed that the FaceTime tune was ringing again, Adrien's picture lighting up. As the bluenette was such a klutz, she almost dropped her phone as she answered the call. Adrien's handsome face came to view. To Adrien, there was only blurriness until Marinette settled down.

He laughed softly thinking how Marinette was so clumsy while Ladybug was so agile. Then he though that Chat Noir was different from Adrien in many aspects, and decided to shut down those thoughts while opening his physic's notebooks.

"So Mari? What's the problem?" He asked with a smile. Marinette sighed a little.

"I don't understand physics." There was a short silence, Adrien waiting for Marinette's explanation. "Like, not at all. I got it all here but I just don't understand the formulas and the theory. I just— agh!"

"Calm down _princess_, I will stay with you as long as you need, and explain you all the times that you find necessary. I will even go to your house if you need me to explain it face to face." Adrien cringed at the pet name; that was definitely a Chat Noir.

"Oh no no." Marinette laughed. "No way I'll pay attention if you are here." She stated regretting her little slip. Lately, her words slipped a little _too_ much from her mouth.

"Yeah, you are right. I won't be able to teach you properly either." He admitted with a smug smirk looking at Marinette who was frustrated avoiding virtual eye contact. "Moving on…" Adrien whispered awkward "Let's start from the top."

Time passed, it was already 10 pm and they were half way through. Luckily, they still had time till the day of the exam, they even agreed to study a bit in the library. The time they spent together in the library wasn't enough, however and so they continued their study session in Marinette's house.

It was really late for a school night. Adrien had to shower, Mari had to shower they had to sleep, but it didn't matter to them because they were having such a great time together although they were studying physics. There was something in the air around them, they felt at peace, completing each other. Marinette had something Adrien needed and vice versa. Conversations and witty comments flowed like water in a river, there were no uncomfortable silences or awkward pauses. The only thing missing between them were the words that told each other how they felt, romantically. Marinette needed to tell Adrien how worthy he was, how incredibly talented and gentle, she needed to demonstrate him how much she cared about him because he couldn't see it, and didn't believe it.

Adrien needed to reassure Mari she was talented and wonderful, and believe me, he always tried to do it as smoothly as possible. He tried to demonstrate his love through actions, not words, as the former ones did a major impact in the bluenette than just silly words of love (that would make him swoon anytime).

Anyways, when they parted ways, Adrien gave Marinette a big hug and a cute kiss in her head, like the day the parted ways after Chloe's party. Making Marinette linger for a kiss goodbye.

_Just wait a little more Mari. _Adrien though smiling to himself as he sat in the car, almost giggling like he was twelve years old.


	12. Day 12: Adrien's Girlfriend

_**"Adrien's Girlfriend": Stupid Twitter! Not entirely wrong though...**_

Adrien's visits to Mari's house weren't secret, but they were… discreet. It was rare for Nino and Alya to know, as they would usually tag along with them if they knew (which was totally weird as they always wanted to leave them alone).

They would usually hang out in Marinette's house or in Adrien's house. It was cheaper, more fun and _intimate. _However, when a really good movie came out they needed to go to the cinema, and this was no exception. They had arranged a rendezvous for Friday night, meeting at the cinema. Clearly, Adrien had arrived like half and hour earlier because he was nervous and needed everything to be perfect. He was waiting in a bench inside the cinema; various fans had asked for photos and autographs, he of course complied, he was used to them, and everyone was really kind, so why say no?

Marinette arrived not too long after looking like a model. She was using a red breezy dress with beautiful black flats, totally giving the classic French style vibe. All male eyes where on her and Adrien was so glad when she gave him a kiss on the cheek (that so left a little red-lips mark), smiling stupidly as they bought pop-corn and soda (and probably something sweet and sour). They didn't notice how a group of girls fangirled of them and took photos, uploading them to twitter.

They were watching a superhero movie, Adrien and Marinette had been waiting for it for a year, after years and years of sequels and side-stories, it was time to wrap the story. Both teenagers were equally exited, and couldn't stop nerd talking. While they watched the advertisements Adrien smoothly hugged Marinette, cuddling her to his side. Marinette looked at Adrien, while he smiled silly looking at her back. Marinette smiled as well, as she whispered "_dork_".

At a point of the movie, one of the main characters, Marinette's favorite, died. Making her cry a little; Adrien noticed and snuggled her closer, rubbing her arm soothingly.

Although they were all lovey-dovey between them, there were no kisses shared, _yet_. Fun was awaiting outside the movie theater. Mari looked at her cellphone, silenced during the movie. Her Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp were blowing up with messages. Thousands of calls from Alya and… Chloe? Apparently, Adrien had something similar in his phone from the look on his face.

Outside it was a chaos. There was a crowd of people waiting for both teenagers. There was no way they could get out; that's were the gorilla came to action. After a short call, he was soon in the cinema door, escorting both teenagers to the car. Adrien had to hug and lead Marinette before she could get pulled into the crowd.

"Oh my god, that was wild" Marinette sighed when she could rest in her seat. She called Alya to get a little recap of whatever happened. "Hey Al, tell me, why was there a crowd?"

"Gurl! You are all over social media! Everyone is asking who's _Adrien's girlfriend. _There are a lot of people saying you are a model because you look like one, that dress is awesome!"

"Alya! Focus!" Marinette scolded.

"Apparently a group of girls saw Adrien on the cinema before the movie started, and as they were checking him out you appeared, and the pictures are really clear hun, hug up so I can send you some screenshots and links."

"Okay Al, thank you. Love you, bye." She said as she waited impatiently for the info. Meanwhile, Adrien talked with Nathalie on the phone with a bored face. All Mari could hear was: "yes, yes, no, no, yes, I don't care, I'll take care of it". Her attention returned to her phone. A link to the original twitter post that said:

"Adrien's Girlfriend oh my god, she looks really cute, what a perfect couple. Back off haters!" Attached where two pictures. One where they smiled each other and the infamous picture where she kissed his cheek. They were perfect pictures and both look good but! They were not a couple.

"Those are some nice pics, send them to me."

"Are you out of your mind?" Marinette asked with a laugh. "We are not a couple."

"But we look good together!" He complained with a grin. "It's just a picture, it won't harm anyone." He logically commented.

"Okay, here you go." She said as he sent him the pics. She then though something. "Is your father gonna kill us?" She inquired with a little fear.

"No, I mean, he was more interested in your dress than in the scandal itself, so we are good." Marinette opened her mouth really surprised.

"He likes my dress?" She shrieked. "You got to be kidding! This is freaking awesome!"

"Well, you got good taste." Adrien justified.

"That dress is mine Adrien!" She stated with a smile. "I made it with my hands!" Adrien's chest pumped up with proudness.

"No wonder you looked so good in it." He commented looking at her. Marinette blushed hard, letting out a quiet _Shut it, cheesy ass. _Making Adrien laugh out loud. Soon they got to Adrien's house, greeted by Nathalie.

"Miss Dupain-Cheng, Mr. Agreste is waiting for you." Marinette nodded as she walked alone to the study. There, the imposing designer looked down at his designs, greeting Marinette with a cold look.

"Miss Dupain-Cheng, a pleasure." He simply said observing her. "I'll get to the point quickly, I've got much work ahead." Marinette could only nod. "I've observed and analyze your work along the years, and I've to say I'm impressed. Have you though of your future?"

"Yes, I'll study Fashion Design, I've not decided for a University yet." She declared. Gabriel nodded, thinking for a second.

"In _Gabriel_ we value talent, and you sure have some miss. We offer internships and paid scholar ships so you can choose whichever university you desire, plus recommendation letters. We really could use your talent for the brand here in Paris and around the world, all of this, of course if you accept, I can give you time till the end of your last year, preferably before so your admission to university can run smoothly."

"Uhm, this is so generous, sir. For real, I can't decline, however I have to inform you I like Adrien, and I won't let anything get in the way between us _if_ something happens in the future." Marinette confided to the coldest man she knew.

"Oh miss I couldn't care less if you like my son or not, I promise to keep things professional if that is your concern. And, between us, you are a perfect candidate for my son, as long as he loves you. That's why I don't interfere in his love life, it's exhausting and I wish Adrien can find love as I found it. If he loves you I won't interfere." Gabriel explained indifferent.

"Sorry, sir." Marinette apologized. "I shall give you a response in a few weeks, then." She simply said bowing her head. "I'll leave you to work."

"Farewell, Miss Dupain-Cheng. I expect good news soon." And with that Marinette left the room, releasing air she was containing. As she walked down the aisle she felt happier by the minute, her grin wider every time she remembered the offer she had just received. When she exited she found Nathalie in her desk and Adrien in a small sofa in front of her. Both looked at her expectantly, Marinette left a quiet shriek accompanied by a giggle, hugging Adrien impulsively.

"I think I just got offered a _job_ and paid university." She chirped making little jumps. "I can't believe it!"

"Well, believe it! You are more than amazing Marinette, you are stunning and talented. No wonder my father was impressed." Adrien signaled with a wide smile. Nathalie, still present, cleared her throat.

"Please don't forget the matter at hand, shall we? We still have a press to appease and lies to deny. Miss Dupain-Cheng, I need you to please make a declaration in any social media you are not dating Adrien."

"Yes, of course Nathalie, sorry to bother and stress you more with this. I'll work on it immediately."

"Why don't you work it with me? We can go to my room or to the kitchen."

"Sounds lovely, we still got a movie to discuss." Marinette added walking by Adrien. Nathalie sighed at the view of the two lovebirds. She hoped the bluenette would make that statement, either way the rumor would get to the bigger news and it would become the worst thing ever, for her at least.


	13. Day 13: Good Luck

_**Good Luck: Adrien gives something to Marinette to wish her good luck.**_

Expositions are difficult. Usually you'll do them in class, around all your friends and classmates whom you know. It was clearly and exception now and Marinette was a nervous wreck, going on through while Adrien tried to calm her down, to no avail.

As a final test, and kind of a favor, Gabriel had asked Marinette to replicate her dress, make some modifications if wished, for a fashion show he had a couple of weeks later. He assured that it would be an easy way to make her enter in any university, stronger than any recommendation letter he could make. It would be her passport to the enter the fashion industry, something she would need in the near future.

Hence, they where in this backstage dressing room hours before the fashion show started. The bluenette had to prepare a Parisian style dress, similar to the one she made before, but now more extravagant and fancier. It was approved by Gabriel before the show, still it wasn't enough for Marinette; her stomach was hurting, what would the critics say? What if something went wrong?

Adrien was stressed for Marinette. She had his father's approval, which was enough, however she was really nervous and they had hours and hours left before the model arrived to fix her hair and make up. They had food in the room, which Marinette hadn't touch since she arrived, and as far as Adrien was concerned she didn't eat anything since she woke up (did she even sleep?).

All thing added to the little detail that she wouldn't. stop. moving. "Mari." Adrien called as his eyes saw how she started mumbling to herself again while moving from one side to the other. The girl wouldn't stop, so Adrien stood up from the little sofa he was in. He had a brilliant idea, he should shock her so much, and give her such a surprise that she would stop thinking about the fashion show.

But what could surprise her? _Tell her you are Chat Noir._

_ No, that's stupid._

"Marinette!" Adrien snapped grabbing her shoulders with a soft squeeze. Marinette stopped bubbling to herself and looked at Adrien with big bluebell eyes, who caressed her cheek gently. Adrien didn't know how he had the guts, but he gently pecked her lips. "Calm down, please." He murmured, looking to Marinette's big eyes.

Marinette stopped thinking. Adrien had just kissed her. And she craved more because it was a baby kiss, making her loose complete control over her actions. With shaky hands she grabbed his collar and pulled him down to crash their lips together, surprising Adrien, who then snaked his arms around Marinette's waist pulling her closer.

They had waited so long for kiss that they couldn't stop. They moved around the room, getting to the sofa were they continued to kiss with such love and tenderness everything was under control. Their lips were curious, sometimes hungry making the kiss more heated. Adrien's hands untied Marinette's pigtails, running his hands through her hair lovingly. The bluenette's hands weren't left behind, she had already run through Adrien's torso sweetly, up and down his arms, now exploring his silky hair.

Lips swollen, both a disheveled mess looked at each other's eyes. Marinette got lost in his bright green eyes, accommodating some of his hair. She got a deja vu, back to that one time she had tidied Chat Noir's way too messy hair, Chat's eyes and mask replacing Adrien truthful eyes. Marinette's breath hitched for a second, how could she even think of Chat in a moment like this? The resemblance was extraordinary but it was not the time, _at all_.

"We should, uhm… tidy ourselves up. Uhm, yeah." She stated with a stupid smile as she approached the vanity mirror. She should probably ask the hair and make up artist to try tidy her up, just in case there were cameras or Gabriel called her out. Until the time came, she pulled her hair in a high ponytail, then sat on the sofa. She felt relaxed, so relaxed she fell asleep. Adrien was so happy that they had kissed, and felt that they were kind of in a relationship, pulled her against him, letting her rest in his chest. Marinette immediately hugged his chest and continued to sleep.

When Adrien opened his eyes, there was a model, Marinette and a hair and makeup stylist looking at the vanity mirror. Still with a little sleep on him, he dragged his feet and kissed Marinette temple while murmuring a "be right back".

Marinette, and both girls beside her, were stunned at Adrien's actions, but didn't comment on it. Freya, the stylist, finished Louise's, the model, hair and make up. Marinette clapped and felt so happy with the result. She had trusted entirely Freya, as she knew how she worked; Mari just gave her the design of the dress and the stylist took care of the entire thing. Louise was the perfect epitome of Parisian style. Her light-brown hair, styled in waves with a long fringe framed her face perfectly. The natural makeup popped out her hazel eyes, complementing perfectly with her thin lips, adorned by red lipstick. She was tall, so the dress fitted her perfectly length wise. Lou, as they all called her, was really professional when it came to modeling, otherwise, she was really kind and friendly, someone Marinette could easily work with. She had no interest whatsoever on Adrien or any model, she had a girlfriend she loved with all her heart.

Freya started to style Marinette simply, letted her hair down, straightened a little, leaving her an untidy but chic look. She used some foundation to cover her eye bags and her signature brown eyeliner, with a little lip gloss on her still swollen lips, something Freya pointed out with a mischievous smile.

Soon the time came for the fashion show to start. Adrien came back with an outfit change, a black shirt in jeans, so casual but so damn handsome. He wasn't going to model today, thankfully, as he could stay by Marinette's side. When the time came, Marinette peered through the curtains to see the faces of the exclusive crowd. The photographers started to get kind of exited and took several photos to Louise. Marinette eyes went glassy at the sight of people gasping excitedly and taking notes of her design.

She looked back to Adrien who was smiling at her, glad the reactions of the public were even better than the ones he expected. He took her hand and squeezed it assuringly, taking it to his lips and kissing it tenderly, Marinette smiling due to his actions. Not long after Nathalie announced Marinette that she would be presenting her face to the world at the end of the show, walking besides Louise. Marinette nodded nervously, starting to tremble; Adrien took both of her hands now.

"Mari, calm down. Look at me, it'll be okay. They loved your designs, they will love you." Marinette shook her head, making Adrien feel a little down. He cupped both her cheeks and gave her a quick peck in the lips. "That's for good luck, I'm sure you'll be amazing, like you always are."

Nathalie saw the little scene, as she always did because she was always there for some forsaken reason, but decided to ignore and not comment. They'll have time to discuss press and other stuff later. She took Marinette who had a smile plastered on her face, like she was fifteen again.

The lights were shining and cameras flashed all to Marinette. All the attention was on her design and herself, receiving a roaring applaud and ovation from the crowd. She felt like a rockstar. And everything was freaking awesome.


	14. Day 14: The Valentine

**_The Valentine: Marinette can't believe who asked her to be her valentine. (Neither can Adrien)_**

Time had gone by pretty fast. Before they realized, Christmas and New Year's had ran right past everyone. January was pretty dull really, a lot of snow and (unofficial) dates. Marinette and Adrien were not official yet, they had been in hundreds of dates, spent an enormous amount of time together, they acted like a real couple but weren't one yet. When February started, Adrien had realized, probably because of all the social media, that Valentine's day was right around the corner.

February was the _lovers' month _and he had to admit he had fallen in love with Marinette; every little minute he spent with her made him fall faster than a drop of rain in heavy storm. By now, he had fallen so hard he was 100 meters below ground level.

There was nothing wrong with this, he had all the right to be in love with Marinette, as she probably felt the same. They had no "title" yet, but they didn't need one. They loved each other, although they didn't whisper those words yet, and that's all they needed.

This left Adrien with a big question. Did he have to ask Marinette to be her Valentine? Or was it granted? _And if that was the case _what should he prepare? He had planned every date under the sun and honestly, Adrien was pretty cheesy when it came to dates, so he couldn't come up with anything new and special. And so days passed, two weeks left, one week left, 3 days left… ding ding ding! It's Valentine's day! And he had to go to school because it's a Thursday.

Adrien felt terribly guilty when he set a foot on the school, everything around him was pink and red, shaped all in hearts and roses. When he got to the classroom, he saw Nino and Alya sitting together which was fine, that meant he was going to sit with Mari. He smiled at the though as he greeted his friends good morning. Marinette arrived shortly after, sitting next to Adrien, offering him a smile and a small kiss in his cheek. She didn't greeted with a _Happy Valentine's day love _like he imagined in his wildest dreams, but a kiss in the cheek was as good.

Something called Adrien's attention however as Marinette left her backpack in the table. In her hand a small pink card and a red rose were a reminder that he didn't prepare anything _yet._ He was curious who had the audacity to gift something to Marinette, I mean, who wouldn't give a gift to her, she's precious.

"Nice gifts! Who gave them to you?" Adrien asked not at all smoothly. Marinette looked at him surprised.

"Uhm, I was hoping they were from you, I didn't open the card yet…" she replied honestly with a little blush. They read the contents of the card together but not aloud.

_ Today as Valentines go out,_

_ To people near and far,_

_ This one I'm sending right to you,_

_ To say how wonderful you are._

_ Will you be my valentine?_

_ Luka._

Adrien's eyes widened at the signature. He was going to kill a certain _friend. _How could Luka be so oblivious? Marinette was clearly in a relationship, not announced, but in a relationship nonetheless.

"Welp, this is embarrassing." Marinette admitted with a small smile. "Guess someone didn't got the idea, haha…" Adrien cleared his throat, Alya's gaze piercing the back of his head. There was no more room for comments as Miss Bustier greeted the class.

Adrien didn't concentrate, not in the nearest bit in the class. He glanced at Marinette, at the rose in the desk, at her backpack (where the card was) and then at her again. She caught him many times, rolling her eyes and whispering him things like: "goof", "dork" and "pay attention" with a shy smile.

When school finished for the day, it was a nightmare to Adrien. Marinette went to the bathroom with Alya as Nino and him chatted, waiting for their girls. Out of the blue, Nino got a message from Alya. "911 emergency, Luka's hitting on Marinette." As soon as Adrien read that he bolted out of the classroom, his heart beating at the speed of light.

_No, no no, no, no, please don't. Luka don't do this._

Adrien was really insecure around Luka. He was tall and good looking, he was a deep man, full of poetry and music that enchanted everyone around him, he had even enchanted Kagami, who was supposedly in love with Adrien before. But Luka always denied Kagami's feelings because (according to rumors) he only had eyes for Marinette.

To say Adrien was scared was an understatement; not even when Marinette shook her head at Luka was he relieved. It wasn't until he took her hand and pulled her away completely pissed that he felt relieved. Feeling how she squeezed his hand back made him feel so much better about the situation. They had walked around the school, and were now at the back, at their own private bubble. Marinette blushed with a smile in her face.

"You okay there?" She grabbed his other hand and squeezed both lovingly.

"Yeah, sorry." He embraced her tightly, much to Marinette's surprise. "I though you were going to just leave with Luka." He whispered more to himself.

"Don't be silly. You are my valentine, I though it was obvious." She pulled apart form him, caressing his cheek fondly.

"I didn't know how you felt… I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing, Luka knew we had a thing going on, he did this on purpose." Marinette became angry at her comment. "I wasn't expecting anything from you, I don't need no flowers and stuff." She assured taking his hands again, leaving a soft peck in his lips. "Actually, I was planning a special date for the two of us."

"Really?"

"Well, yeah, it would be uncool if only you planned dates. The relationship goes two ways ya know?" They started walking towards Marinette's place. Adrien's eyes lighted up, exited. "Now, don't get too exited. It's a mundane date, nothing special. We could build a fortress at my room, and play video games and watch movies. Of course if you wanna have dinner that's fine to, but-"

"Sounds Amazing Mari, I rather hang out at your house that spend valentine's around sappy and cheesy people." Adrien intertwined arms with Mari, huffing ironically.

"Said the king of the sappy" Marinette laughed.

"Shush, you love when I get all romantic." Adrien retorted wrapping his arms around Mari in a bear hug. She chortled and shrieked when Adrien started peppering kisses all over her face, half of Paris watching, of course.


End file.
